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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP

July 13, 2008

Dan Quinn

STATELINE, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Dan.

Q. What happened on the 18th?
DAN QUINN: Well, what happened? The excuse version was I was in a little -- hit an okay drive. I had a clean look at the pin but left of the pin was no room.
And I had a little winter kill that my ball settled into. You can go check the divot. Sitting right on dirt. Made me think that I was going to hit it a little thin.
I tried to beat down on it. I blocked it a hair, nicked a branch, hit a tree and went on the beach. I think if it would have been a good lie I don't think I would have had the concern that I was going to chunk it or hit it fat or try to beat down on it as much as I did.
But long on 18. Hit a decent drive under the circumstances. I was the one that went from being way down to catching and leading. And I had nothing kind of to lose. Then I had something to lose. The third shot was pretty good.

Q. With Rhoden standing over that putt what were your thoughts?
DAN QUINN: Miss it (laughter).

Q. Did you think he would?
DAN QUINN: I don't know. You can't control what somebody else does in this game. I understand he got a couple good breaks off his tee ball. It was pretty left. It is what it is. I got beat not today, I got beat on Friday. I shot a 76 and fought my way back to the lead with one hole to go and I made a par, ultimately.
So that's the way I'm looking at it right now. Lack of a better of word, I'm pissed off I didn't birdie the last ball and I controlled the tournament. But at the same time it was a pretty good comeback yesterday and today.

Q. I think you finished somewhere around 13th or so last year. Was there any sort of like extra determination to come back from that?
DAN QUINN: Well, I haven't been up here this week. And I think I'm pretty spot on in this comment, that the scores are worse this year primarily due to the fact that we only have two or three golf tournaments a year.
When we were shooting pretty good scores six, seven years ago, five years ago, we had Elway's tournament the week before, another half dozen CPC, celebrity golf tournaments where we kept score. That sort of dried up. For me, personally, that's the case: I keep score probably at least these three rounds and another six rounds a year that I play golf tournaments. So if that makes sense.
I don't play golf tournaments week in, week out. I think you, look across the board, I think it's been good for the event, the other side of that. I think it's brought us all back to the level playing field.
I think obviously Rick and I finished 1-2, but I think it's brought us all back to the same jittery scores. It's not like somebody shot nine or 10 under to win the tournament. I don't know what Rick's was. I was 1-under for the event, I think, starting with a 76. But I was nervous on Friday. Normally I'm not that nervous.
And just lack of tournament pressure and situations that I'm sure everybody will attest to; and, again, I think that puts us all on the same playing field. For a guy like Tony Romo that's a great golfer, obviously, but works all winter, and I work now, too, for the Ritz-Carlton Club, but I think that's the difference why the scores were a little higher.
You were asking me yesterday, the golf course is good. But you're a little tentative and you're little kind of wishy, and I think that is a product of not having eight or nine tournaments a year for all of us.

Q. Where do all these tournaments go, some sponsorship issues?
DAN QUINN: The Celebrity Golf Tour, Celebrity Players Tour. Whatever they call it. I don't go to them anymore because they're all team events and what not. So when you have a family, it's tough to justify going to them.
Humphreys, we have one other golf tournament in April that's still a good golf tournament. But that's it.

Q. Which one is that?
DAN QUINN: Stan Humphreys still has one in San Diego. That's a Pro-Am, two-day golf tournament. Again, it's not an excuse. It's sort of an observation.
When I looked at yesterday, I thought I was going to be 15 points down, when I posted 39. Somebody would have got to 50 after the first round, 26, 25, 23, somebody would have shot a good score. And I was only six back. So I was shocked, to be honest with you, because I wasn't playing that hard. If you played well, there's enough good players, enough guys that are retired now, Hull -- and Brett. And I thought they would have posted some good scores.

Q. Annika Sorenstam was in that seat about four hours ago. Someone asked would she play if she was invited. What do you think that would do to the tournament, to the guys in the tournament?
DAN QUINN: Well, I think there's an opportunity probably, because I live in South Florida. And I get a lot of guys that are in between, that are friends of mine that I play with Ian Baker Finch, guys like that. Whether this is a tournament -- but I think there would be some vehicle. She'd probably beat us, to be honest with you, but she'd have a lot more pressure on us than the rest of us.
And if she played the same course, I don't know what you're talking about. But I think Rick -- Rick's played Senior Tour golf. I've played a lot of golf with Tour pros. I'd love to play some sort of event, whether it's this one, I don't know. But if she retires, has a family then she's on the same playing field as us, maybe she falls in the category like John Brodie and away we go.

Q. You can't hip check her.
DAN QUINN: (Laughter) she's Swedish; she plays hockey.

Q. Swedish guys aren't tough.
DAN QUINN: Lidstrom, tell it to the guy that one the Stanley Cup.

Q. Can you talk about the noise on the last three holes?
DAN QUINN: It was crazy. I actually, instead of getting irritated on 16, the 16 green, people were talking. And I said to my brother: Any chance you can quiet them down? Just to sort of relax myself. There was two or three conversations at that point, being nervous, having a big putt, I was rabbit ears, to say the least.
And on 17, literally when I'm putting that 1-footer, this is it Dan, do it. I'm like thank God it was only a foot I could ging it in there. But it was crazy. That's what this is all about. 18 was, once we got into it, it was fine. But 17, 16, were crazy today.

Q. You also had some kids that made noise before you hit --
DAN QUINN: Just before I hit the 6-iron some kid was running down the cart path. It had nothing to do with it. Got back in. Whether I hit the same shot, I just tried to make a good swing. Wasn't that bad a shot. If it didn't hit the first branch and just kick right, it would have caught the green right in the middle of the green, probably been 20, 25 feet.
Again, if you go look at the lie, it was in a winter kill hole. Not bad. Not a divot, but in a winter kill with no grass underneath it. That's why I was sort of defensive with the shot.
But, again, I was thrilled about the middle of the round yesterday to think I still had a chance when I posted a score, really not a great score, not what I expected to still have had a chance to win the golf tournament.
And then I actually, I'm pretty proud of the fact I did rock off some birdies today and caught everybody and hit the fairway on 18 and tried to hit a good shot on the last hole. Made my par. Go look at that beach where I hit that third shot from, that was a pretty good shot.

Q. Considering the way Rick has putted this week, what do you think your chances were on his last putt, because he's missed a lot of putts this week?
DAN QUINN: Get in line. I think that's the point I made about not playing a lot. I don't know how much he's played.
But the bottom line is it is putting. Hit 14 -- 13, 14, 15 greens, and half the time you're just getting them up there, just trying to 2-putt, get your par. Make sure you don't have a 4-footer coming back. Whereas a Tour pro, guy playing in a lot of tournaments, think about making the first one, worried about making the second one.
I don't know how he putted or not. Looked like he barely got it there. It was a pretty simple, straightforward putt. I didn't see him putt the hole. I was in the score tent. I knew he had a big hook off the tee and got away with it. But good for him. Congratulations and we'll see him next year.

Q. When you were on the beach, your third shot, lining it up, looked like you gave a thought to punching it out first?
DAN QUINN: That was my first shot.

Q. Wondered if you know that Rick had already gotten hooked at that point?
DAN QUINN: I did not. I was going to ask. I knew six was no good. If I chip it out, if I don't get it up and down. I looked. I could have made X, I could have made seven, once I decided to go for it off the beach. But I took a 60-degree, put it back in my stance. Hit it back to the green, made my 2-putt. Just not taking a whole lot of console or consoling myself in that because I'm still pissed I didn't birdie the last hole to win. Excuse my language. But it was a fun day.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Dan.

End of FastScripts

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